Computers and You - A Guide in Making Choices as P

Talking with someone at work who has built systems, he helped put together this spec sheet:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fFyJHx

It's got 120GB SSD for the OS and a traditional disk for storage. We did include a moderate graphics card for where that can help and also any light gaming. I'm wondering the SSD should be larger...not sure the footprint for windows 8.1 or 10.

Any thoughts on how this spec looks for hobbyist use of LR, CS6, and premiere elements for HD video editing?

I think I should look at the cost of business computer + upgrades vs build complete. Probably more competitive.

For the cost I'd put a 256gb SSD in it.

I tend to game so a bigger GPU is needed for me and no less than 16gb RAM, which you have. I currently have almost 1TB used of my 2TB storage drive. Might want to up that size, again, not a big cost increase.

chuck1856 wrote: Talking with someone at work who has built systems, he helped put together this spec sheet: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fFyJHx It's got 120GB SSD for the OS and a traditional disk for storage. We did include a moderate graphics card for where that can help and also any light gaming. I'm wondering the SSD should be larger...not sure the footprint for windows 8.1 or 10. Any thoughts on how this spec looks for hobbyist use of LR, CS6, and premiere elements for HD video editing? I think I should look at the cost of business computer + upgrades vs build complete. Probably more competitive.

With prices as they are, get a bigger SSD. They are getting so very cheap.

Do not get single sticks of RAM. Buying a matched pair is the way to go.

Too much video card. Go for the R260 2GB. High resolution and the OpenCL power you could need. The difference in the two in non-gaming performance is negligible, but the price is enough to matter.

Color profile your monitor and then you have no color issue.

No such thing as to much video card. :)

Cliff wrote: "With hard drives relatively cheap again, I'd go with a Toshiba 3TB 7200 rpm drive (boxed version)." Suggest either Western Digital or Seagate on drives. FWIW, I've not had good luck with Toshibas and still have a WD I put into service in 2001 running as a boot. It's on it's 3rd OS. Want to see how long it runs until it drops.

The current Toshiba 3.5" drives are made by the former HGST/Hitachi/IBM plant. Generally those have been some of the most reliable drives (75GXP problems were over-hyped).

Having said that, I bought the 4TB 7200rpm Toshiba, and it was really loud (but certainly fast). I have the infamous 3TB 7200rpm Seagate which has been a good drive for me. I actually thought it was a bit loud until I tried the Toshiba. Samsung used to make some wonderful quiet drives, but Seagate didn't really continue that tradition. I was going to replace the 3TB Seagate with the Toshiba, but I sent the Toshiba back and bought another 4TB 5900rpm Seagate (the SSHD version I was already using the non-SSHD version for backup.) I'd definitely recommend these slow Seagates over the WD Greens.

I have 1TB 7200rpm WD Blues in both my desktops and those are definitely better the the 7200rpm Seagates (at least as far as being quieter and faster--but not as fast as that Toshiba). I have had bad experiences with WD drives (1.5TB Green and an Apple-branded drive).

Replace hard drives frequently--like before the end of the warranty. You can actually get some money for them used if they are still working.

QUIETOC: Funny how different user experiences are. A lot has to come down to sample variation and random distribution.

It has seemed to me that the 5900rpm Seagates are significantly faster than the green WDs. That's subjective, but they spin what, around 500rpm, close to 10%, faster? I've used some WD reds in low intensity servers for the last several years and liked them, but again, it's subjective.

The Seagate SSHDs seemed more gimmick to me than real, using the memory as a big cache, but it's not as fast as real cache. How have they worked for you, better than my skepticism predicted maybe?

We went to SSDs for boot and some local fast storage several years ago. All the rotating stuff is on the network. That makes for quick boots, simple backups and quiet workstations. Except for the power supply fan in my primary workstation. @W#E$R%^&* I'm about ready to rip it out by the roots.

We tend to move drives downhill to backups, first daily rotation, then archival. By the time they fall out the end, they're several years old, obsolescent, and we hit them with a hammer. New keeps getting better and cheaper with remarkable regularity. Glad to hear you're getting some bucks back out of yours, that's hard to do.

   

I didn't know about that color bug. Would probably use displayport output if there's no downside to that, so maybe its moot in this case.

I've good both Seagate and WD blue drives in external enclosures presently so will move them over. I chose the case size to fit in my desk but will have to take a closer look if I can fit something larger. Storage seems to be an on-going challenge, even as drive capacities grow, so does my need. So extra bays would be nice.